HDD Disconnects Upon Slight Motion/Movement

[tpenthusiast]

Hello, my WD MyPassport Ultra HDD disconnects whenever I move it or the USB cable around slightly. It didn't have this problem before, but I fear that when I dropped it from a short height onto my hard tile floor that something inside could've gotten loose. The HDD was on and connected to my laptop/I was using it, but it was also securely snug inside a closed shock-absorbent case for HDDs from Amazon.

I ran the SMART test, the quick scan, and the full scan using the WD Utilities tool, and none of them found any problems. I have no issues opening any files in terms of speed and none of them seem to be corrupted.

Is the fact that it only disconnects upon moving the cable an indication that the cable has gone bad, or that something inside the HDD is loose/disrupted? Will I have to investigate the interior of the HDD/the USB port or can I just get another cord? Thanks in advance.

P.S. The cable is not the one that initially came with it, that one went bad after a while once my laptop failed to recognize the drive from any USB ports. The one I have now is one of the Amazon Basic 3.0 cords.

 

[D_Know_WD]

Hi there tpenthusiast,

That is unpleasant. 🙁

My suggestion would be to back up the data stored on the drive. If this is not a cable related issue, then there is something wrong with the enclosure.(most probably caused by the hit/shock)

I believe you can just get another cable and see if this would sort the issue out.
In case this does not help, I doubt that the enclosure/port problem can be fixed.

You shouldn't take the drive out of the enclosure, as the device is hardware encrypted and you will not be able to access your data unless the drive is in the enclosure. Furthermore, the drive most probably has some proprietary connectors.

Let me know how this goes,
D_Know_WD

 

[tpenthusiast]

Hi there tpenthusiast,

That is unpleasant. 🙁

My suggestion would be to back up the data stored on the drive. If this is not a cable related issue, then there is something wrong with the enclosure.(most probably caused by the hit/shock)

I believe you can just get another cable and see if this would sort the issue out.
In case this does not help, I doubt that the enclosure/port problem can be fixed.

You shouldn't take the drive out of the enclosure, as the device is hardware encrypted and you will not be able to access your data unless the drive is in the enclosure. Furthermore, the drive most probably has some proprietary connectors.

Let me know how this goes,
D_Know_WD

Thank you for replying so quickly, D_Know_WD!

I see, I will probably just get a new cable and try it out to see if the problem is isolated to the cable. When I lightly tug on the cable by the end attached to the laptop's USB port, the HDD disconnects/reconnects frequently, so I'm guessing the problem is indeed with the cable and hopefully not the HDD due to a malfunctioning or physical alteration of its port/insides? Would you agree with that or is that not necessarily/likely the case? Just for some peace of mind while I wait for the new cable haha.

P.S. This is the type of case it was in upon impact: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IHUWW06/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 and the height was between my bed and the floor so I'm hopeful that the chance of the HDD sustaining any physical damage or alteration is very low.

 

[steven_15]

I had a similar problem. If the external drive was moved even slightly or sometimes even vibrated by footsteps a few feet away it'd constantly disconnect and reconnect or just shut off entirely. This would continue until it was either repeatedly reinstalled/reconnected/PC restarted enough that it stabilized... for the time being. Sometimes it'd even vibrate loose from the computer's vibrations itself. A new cable did not help, using a different USB port did as the problem was the ones I was using were loose. You say it was connected when it fell, so the gravity from that could have damaged your USB port.

 

[tpenthusiast]

I had a similar problem. If the external drive was moved even slightly or sometimes even vibrated by footsteps a few feet away it'd constantly disconnect and reconnect or just shut off entirely. This would continue until it was either repeatedly reinstalled/reconnected/PC restarted enough that it stabilized... for the time being. Sometimes it'd even vibrate loose from the computer's vibrations itself. A new cable did not help, using a different USB port did as the problem was the ones I was using were loose. You say it was connected when it fell, so the gravity from that could have damaged your USB port.

I see, hopefully the problem is on the laptop's USB port end and not due the HDD port or interior being physically altered, it was inside a shock absorbent case when it fell after all. Mine is not as sensitive to motion as yours so maybe whatever part if any of the HDD that was damaged is still bearable/manageable if I keep it still. Thanks.

 

[D_Know_WD]

I would totally agree with steven_15. It is a good idea to attach the drive to another USB port as well.

Yeah, it is most probably the cable that is causing this. Yet, you will be sure what is causing this once you rule out all the other possible causes.

Cheers,
D_Know_WD

 

[steven_15]

The easiest way of being sure:

Connect your HDD on any USB port other than the one it's currently on. (Note: There's a chance the entire USB unit is loose, in which case you should connect it in a different row).
Connect any known, working device on the same port the HDD was on.

For me anything in the loose slots would glitch out, and if I put them in a different USB slot it'd work perfectly. If your drive doesn't work in any slot but other devices do it's probably the drive. Most likely it is the port though as external drives are fairly shock resistant even without your safety gear.